For the Kids!

This is the last day on the water so I decided to finish my project, which is to find a special fish for each of the kids.... and take a picture. Well finding the fish was easy; taking a picture, less so. After proofing the camera case under water, running out of batteries at 80ft (not easy to replace them down there), getting a taxi to find batteries, then clearing the memory, I am ready to go.

By this time I can no longer dive, since I will be flying soon, so final pictures will be obtained while snorkling.

I FORGOT HOW BOUNCY THE SURFACE IS!!!

Pretty difficult to get anything in focus.

So first, the few that had any focus. Note (to kids) that without special flashers much of the red color is lost and everything seems bluer or greener. For example those corals are a striking purple color.

Here are the Kids Special Fish

Awesome Nature

Bioluminescence
Sitting here looking at the moon last night, which was almost full, I was reminded of the eco-tour guide description of a particular glow worm specie habit. Apparently they mate in the evenings after the full moon. A green glow occurs while they mate, then unfortinately the male dies. L Entire lagoons are said to light up on these nights. I don’t think that I will get a chance to see this.

This morning the (nearly) full moon and sunrise were on the horizon at the same time. It was beautiful .

Nature never ceases to amaze.

Dive Logs

Fabulous Diving!

While these post have been uploaded in chuncks owing to inconsistent internet connection here, they were written over a weeks time. There were many days of great diving. Yesterday (Friday) the water was so still that you could see the bottom at 45ft and it looked as if it were only the bottom of a swimming pool. This is the visibility one comes here for. A reef shark, small ray and barracuda swam up to the dock no need to dive really.... but I did anyway :)

Today the vis was not a good, 3ft swells stir things up a bit but make dramatic beach wave action. We did a deep dive and navigation dive for someone finishing a course then just coasted. The second dive was a 'drift dive'. They drop you off, you dive in one direction drifting with the current. When you are low on air you surface with a big red balloon and the boat picks you up. In a real current this is the easiest way to dive.

But the news is that we (3 of us) saw a 10ft hammer head shark! It was 40 ft away and we swam toward it. It swam away then circled to come see what was up with us, swam by a second time, then left. It was amazing. Apparently they havent seen one here for years.... and the other group in the water missed it. We are the envy of the club. Below is an example of what they look like.

Dive Logs

First Dives
The first dive day was great. I seemed well matched to dive buddies and we nice dives along the wall. Reefs are pretty, lots of colorful fish, we saw a very large manta ray (though no one was in the water at the time :) ), small sting rays, etc. I was cold though, even with one and a half wet suits on.

The next day was not fun at all. I was not well matched… one buddy wanted to be down at 120 ft (where I wont go) and the other didn’t get weights sorted out so I spent the whole time worrying about everyone, myself included. I also forgot my second layer so I froze! Skipped the second dive. Not fun.

Better Diving

Great dive today!!!! Saw a super large nurse shark who was very shy and would not let us get closer than 15 ft. Then there was a 2’ turtle, garden eels in the sand, large grouper, and the usual tangs, parrot fish, etc. etc. some beautiful corral. There were also some spectacular lion fish; these have infested northern waters where they had not been before… beautiful but poisonous to touch.



Nurse sharks have no teeth and are usually napping! Sea turttles and garden eels above.

Lion Fish below, beautiful!

On the second dive a 3ft barracuda hung out below the boat and there was plenty of time to enjoy him/her as we did our safety stops at 15ft. I wore my wetsuit and a 5 mil shorty!! and was finally warm enough. The water temperature is only 77F, which is cold. I don’t know how people can enjoy diving in northern climes. But at least I have a strategy to keep warm now.

(pictures not mine, but are here to describe what I saw)

Rumination on libation

Here on the beach in the Caribbean, a wide variety of fruit rum drinks are readily available. They are delcious, but I notice that a half hour after enjoying one I feel a strong desire for a nap. As a matter of fact, though I don’t often drink hard liquor (having only recently come to appreciate Scotch for example), when I do, it has the same effect. In contrast, champagne never makes me tired. Instead I just become increasing happy with dose. Why is there such a difference????? If I felt like thinking hard, I would probably consider factors such as time of day, blood suger levels, etc. and perhaps find some rational explanation. But I am on vacation, so instead I will limit myself to one fruit drink/day…. Then just drink champagne.

Life is difficult here.

Turks & Caicos

It is a strange name: Turks is named after a cactus common here that has a red top remenicent of turbans thought to be worn by Turks and Caicos is a native word for collection of little islands. It is reputed to have one of the most spectacular beaches in the world… and it seems true. On one side of Provo is a 10 mile long white sand beach overlooking, you guessed it, turqoise water. While there are resorts near the beach, it never seems crowded. It is never difficult to find a beach chair…. and as you can see at mid morning there is plenty of space.

There is no noticable hurricane damage on this island…. But on an eco kayak trip to Iguana Island some effects were apparent. This is a wildlife refuge that hosts 2000 iguanas. The iguanas are fine, but several paths and walkways have been damaged. More importantly, the hurricane redistributed beaches so that the island is now connected to a small adjacent island. Pets (dogs and cats) from that island can now cross and hunt the iguana…. Not good. I looked for Joy’s favorite iguana with no luck. found his brother, though.

Third Idea Conference Held in Atlanta

The Third Idea Conference was held in Atlanta. Following 2 previous confernces held in the Philadelphia region… one on primates and one on sea animals, the third conference focused on various aspects of Egyptian culture. The conference was well attended.. …the highest attendance to date.

Three invited talks highlighted the meeting focus…. In fact they constituted the entire meeting.

Leo Thompson: Egyptian Mummies
Zoe Thompson: Egyptian Culture
Jordan Flynn: Egyptian Pyramids

Joy Schweiger, the conference organizer is credited with making the meeting a success. Not only did she arrange for Pat’s birthday present (the TV) to be delivered a month early, but she managed the registration process catering, and vendor interactions (contributions) with the professionalsim we have come to expect from her. All attendees were appropriately identified with their names tags and ribbons identifying their roles. The only weakness was that DiDi Dawn seemed to completely forget optical physics… providing laser pointers with insufficient intensity and video taping in a mode that left everyone in the dark. (please don’t tell her students)


The videos are attached but are only useful as audio recordings of what are sure to be considered seminal talks by all of the invited speakers. Note that the ‘question and answer’ sessions were not recorded so the insightful discussion about upper and lower Nile, rain on the water clocks, the meaning of innundation, and the tooth brushing habits of pyramids have not been recorded for prosperity. This is a shame, I know.